Warning to Rich Oppressors

5 Now listen,^(A) you rich people,^(B) weep and wail^(C) because of the misery that is coming on you. ² Your wealth has rotted, and moths have eaten your clothes.^{(D) 3} Your gold and silver are corroded. Their corrosion will testify against you and eat your flesh like fire. You have hoarded wealth in the last days.^{(E) 4} Look! The wages you failed to pay the workers^(F) who mowed your fields are crying out against you. The cries^(G) of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord Almighty.^{(H) 5} You have lived on earth in luxury and self-indulgence. You have fattened yourselves^(I) in the day of slaughter.^{[a](J) 6} You have condemned and murdered^(K) the innocent one,^(L) who was not opposing you.

⁷ What then? What the people of Israel sought so earnestly they did not obtain.^(A) The elect among them did, but the others were hardened,^{(B) 8} as it is written:

⁹ And David says:

Ingrafted Branches

¹¹ Again I ask: Did they stumble so as to fall beyond recovery? Not at all!^(G) Rather, because of their transgression, salvation has come to the Gentiles^(H) to make Israel envious.^{(I) 12} But if their transgression means riches for the world, and their loss means riches for the Gentiles,^(J) how much greater riches will their full inclusion bring!

²¹ “Then the Lord said to me, ‘Go; I will send you far away to the Gentiles.’ ”^(A)

Paul the Roman Citizen

²² The crowd listened to Paul until he said this. Then they raised their voices and shouted, “Rid the earth of him!^(B) He’s not fit to live!”^(C)

⁵² Was there ever a prophet your ancestors did not persecute?^(A) They even killed those who predicted the coming of the Righteous One. And now you have betrayed and murdered him^(B)—

¹¹ Then they secretly^(A) persuaded some men to say, “We have heard Stephen speak blasphemous words against Moses and against God.”^(B)

¹² So they stirred up the people and the elders and the teachers of the law. They seized Stephen and brought him before the Sanhedrin.^{(C) 13} They produced false witnesses,^(D) who testified, “This fellow never stops speaking against this holy place^(E) and against the law. ¹⁴ For we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place^(F) and change the customs Moses handed down to us.”^(G)

Seven Woes on the Teachers of the Law and the Pharisees

¹³ “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites!^(A) You shut the door of the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to.^{(B) [14] [a]}

¹⁵ “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to win a single convert,^(C) and when you have succeeded, you make them twice as much a child of hell^(D) as you are.

¹⁶ “Woe to you, blind guides!^(E) You say, ‘If anyone swears by the temple, it means nothing; but anyone who swears by the gold of the temple is bound by that oath.’^{(F) 17} You blind fools! Which is greater: the gold, or the temple that makes the gold sacred?^{(G) 18} You also say, ‘If anyone swears by the altar, it means nothing; but anyone who swears by the gift on the altar is bound by that oath.’ ¹⁹ You blind men! Which is greater: the gift, or the altar that makes the gift sacred?^{(H) 20} Therefore, anyone who swears by the altar swears by it and by everything on it. ²¹ And anyone who swears by the temple swears by it and by the one who dwells^(I) in it. ²² And anyone who swears by heaven swears by God’s throne and by the one who sits on it.^(J)

²³ “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth^(K) of your spices—mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness.^(L) You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former. ²⁴ You blind guides!^(M) You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel.

²⁵ “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish,^(N) but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence.^{(O) 26} Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean.

²⁷ “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs,^(P) which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean. ²⁸ In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.

²⁹ “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You build tombs for the prophets^(Q) and decorate the graves of the righteous. ³⁰ And you say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our ancestors, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’ ³¹ So you testify against yourselves that you are the descendants of those who murdered the prophets.^{(R) 32} Go ahead, then, and complete^(S) what your ancestors started!^(T)

³³ “You snakes! You brood of vipers!^(U) How will you escape being condemned to hell?^{(V) 34} Therefore I am sending you prophets and sages and teachers. Some of them you will kill and crucify;^(W) others you will flog in your synagogues^(X) and pursue from town to town.^{(Y) 35} And so upon you will come all the righteous blood that has been shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel^(Z) to the blood of Zechariah son of Berekiah,^(AA) whom you murdered between the temple and the altar.^{(AB) 36} Truly I tell you, all this will come on this generation.^(AC)

³⁷ “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you,^(AD) how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings,^(AE) and you were not willing. ³⁸ Look, your house is left to you desolate.^(AF)